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TAO TE CHING The Ancient Masters were profound and subtle Their wisdom was unfathomable There is no way to describe it all we can describe is their appearance The best athlete wants his opponent at his best The best general enters the mind of his enemy The best businessman serves the communal food The best leader follows the will of the people The teachings from the book Tao Te Ching helped influence both the social and moral aspects of the Chinese way of life The teachings have provided hope and inspiration for the Chinese people In ancient China the people were self-providing farmers who lived exclusively off the land They rarely took the time to intermingle with their neighbors and the family stood independently The people had little knowledge about the outside world and had no desire to learn Far travel was avoided at all costs due to the strong attachment to ones own home The people believed that No man could be full grown without his roots in his home The people referred to their homes as tien yuan lu mo which meant fields gardens houses graves The Chinese thought that the causes of crime were soldiers and wanderers They were considered evil beings for venturing away from they home The people believed that all things living and un-living had spirits in them They felt that the spirits if disturbed could drastically affect ones life They used amulets spells prayers incantations and special rites to ward of misfortune This is a direction to a later Lao Tzus teaching stating Practice not-doing and everything will fall into place The home did not limit its members to the current living members the dead and the future were also considered family Around 650BC during the Chou Dynasty the value of knowledge changed Although communication between towns was still difficult many Sages were in desire of knowledge Some of the most well

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